Clamp for battery terminals



March 10, 1925.

M. C. ST. JOHN CLAMP FOR BATTERY TERMINALS Filed Sept. 21, 1921 \/E I M12155 6. JIJOKN To all whom it may concern:

* adjustment for changes in diameter I afiordlgood electrical con'tact with each of.

- angle to my'clamp applied thereto.

Patented Mar. 10, 1925'.

UNITED STATES..-

AT N orries.

MILEs c. sr. JOHN, or crrrcaoo, ILLINOIS.

cam FOB, BATTERY mmmnuns.

Application filed September 21, 1921. Seria1'1io.'502,193.

. Be it known that I, M nes 0. ST. JoHN,.a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Clamp for Battery Terminals; and I do hereby declare' that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals: ofreferencemarked thereon, which ,form a partof this specification.

Thisinvention relates to clamps and while described-and illustrated in connection with a clamp for the connector of a secondary.

battery, it is capable-of many other uses.

It is an object of this invention to provide .a'clainp whereby two round bodies of difierent diameters maybe securely fastened together.

It is a further'object of this invention to provide such a clamp which is capable o;

either of said cylindrical bodies. i It is afurther object of this invention to .provide a clamp in which the stress of the ainst one of two cylin-- provide a.convenient fastening device for 40 securingtwo c lindrica'l bodies together ina positlonj suc that their axes .are at an due another and not in the same plane.

Other and further important objects of this invention will beiapparent from the disclosures in the drawings and the specificaw tionb r The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated'in the drawing'sland hereinafter more fully described. 4 On the drawin i Figure 1 is a p an view of a battery with Figure 2 of clamp. 7

IS a top plan view of one form which shall not only fasten naL,

Figure 3 is a section uponthe line 3--3 of Figure 2.

. F'gure t is a top form of clamp. I

Figure 5 is a section upon the line 5+5 ofF-1gure4. i I

Figure 6 isa detail view 'showin a slight modgfication of the bolts illustrate in Fig ure I As shown on the drawings; The battery 1 has its terminals 2 united plan view of a modified by connectors .3, the connectors and termi nal's being fastened-together by means of c1amps. The clamp illustrated in Figure2 comprises two jaws 5 and 6 which are hollowed out at 7 and 8 respectively to form at.

circular clamping space between the jaws.

Each of the jaws 5 and 6 is traversed by a. pair of aligned'holes through which. gorods 9 and 10' respectively.

threaded all the way outto one end..'.The'

other ends of the rods are formed into circular eyes, as shown at 11in Fi These rods are) Each of the rodsis supplie with a nut 12.. These nuts bear against "the flat face of the member 6 'o posite the hollowed out iaee 8. The face 0 the member 5 oppositethe hollowed out face 7is formed into a con cave cylindrical surface, the axis of the'cyf lindrical surface being at right anglestothe axis of the cylindrical surface This is shown at 13. in Fi re 3. Preferably', the ;radius of the eylin rical surfgce 13 is'equal to the radius-of the interiorriof the eye ll,

but this is not necessar- Y In the use of the device, the' rods tl'and 10 are thrust through the holes' in the member '5. A wire or other'cylindrical object yijsiready to coup placed in the eyes 11 to whatever object is placed in theclrcular opening 7-8.

If the wire3 to beattached to the batthrust through the eyes 11, .then' the other jaw 6 is placed on therods 9 and '10, with these rods extending through theholes in the jaw .6. Finally the nuts 12 are screwed upon the bolts 9 andlO. The device is then' 10 the wire or other object tery terminal 2,-"after the wire has been in- I sorted in the eyes 11 and'the' clamp assembled as described, the jaws 5 and 6 are dis-;-,l05 posed on the end. .2 of the battery termiiiali': Preferably, for this purpose, the jaws are. separated widely enough for the-clamp easily ass down over t e end of the-to he nuts 12 are then tightened -Thefii presence of the wire 3 prevents the eyesll from turning when the nuts are turned, and consequently the. bolts 9'and 10 will be held still and turning the nuts will draw the wire 3 toward the jaw 6. The pressure of the wire 3 against the jaw 5 will cause it to of the bolts, and this portion of the bolts may be contained in slots 14 in the aw 5. -Qb,viously, the contact of the rings 11 and of the ed es of the squared parts of the bolts 15 with t e sides of these slots will also prevent the bolts from turning.

P A slight modification of the bolts 9- and 10, illustrated in'Fig. 6, has additional means. I for kee ,ing the bolts from turning. In this form, t e two bolts 9and10 are connected A by a U-shaped yoke 40 on the; side of the eyes 11 opposite the threaded portions.- This connection prevents either bolt from turning. I

In the form illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the clamp jaws and 26 are similarly held by a pair of bolts 27 iand 28 supplied with nuts 29. The-faces of the jaws'25 and 26 which are toward ons another are cut away to form a square recess 30. The edge of the jaw 25 opposite'the recess 30 is provided with a curved flange 31 which afi'ords a concavecylindrical surface 32 for the reception of a wire or other object 33. The ends of the bolts 27 and 28 are bent into semi-circa: lar hook portions 34, and the hooks thus formed are adapted to surround the object 33. The ends of the hooks are continued back arallel to the main shanks of the bolts and tie flange 31 is'providedwith grooves 35 for the reception ofthese ends.

p In the operation of thisdevice, the parts are assembled in thesame way as explained inconnection with Figure 2. Rotation of the bolts when thenuts 29 are tightened is preventedby the engagement of the end of the hooks in the grooves 35. introduced into the e e 11 of the forni shown in, Figure 3, or into t e hooks 34 in the form shown in Figure 5, is not round, it is still possible to use this form of clam Even if the object that is introduced is eformable, as for example, in the'case of a cable of many wires, the device will force thecable into the form of the surface 32 in one case or. of the surface 13 in the other case, so that good electrical connection is obtained and a f firm hold secured in either case.

I am aware that. numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting wise than necessltated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention: 1

If the object the patent granted other- 1. In a clamping device, a pair of jaw members, and a pair of bolts for drawing said jaw members toward one another, said bolts being shaped to engage and draw an object toward one of said jaw members, said last-named jaw member being slotted to cooperate with ,projecting portions of said bolts to prevent rotation of the latter.

2. In a battery terminal eonnector, a jaw having one face formed to fit the battery terminal, the opposite face formed to fit the conductor to-be attached to said terminal, said jaw having holes therethrough to ac commodate bolts and also having slots. to

co-operate with extensions onsaid bolts and prevent the bolts from turning.

In testimony whereof I :have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARLTON HILL, Jams M. OBRIEN. 

